Rylund Mahler: A Short Story

I was born here in Chicago but was raised in a small Illinois town near Iowa. I later returned to my roots as an adult and have raised my own family in the Chicagoland area in (South Suburban) Steger, Illinois. I am a wife, mother and recently became a grandmother.

I was the baby of the family. I had four older siblings. I had two brothers: David and Stephen and two sisters: Dorothea and Sally.

To avoid the confusion and the added explanation, I often tell people I am from Greensboro, NC. Being one of the larger cities in North Carolina, most people can easily recognize this area of the state, even if they are from other parts of the country. For instance, those who are college basketball fans are often familiar with Greensboro as it hosted the ACC tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum for multiple years. Though it is not being totally honest with others, it is not as far-fetched as it may appear. By car, it takes me less than five minutes to get to city limits and roughly twenty minutes to get to the heart of downtown Greensboro. My high school even had a Greensboro address, despite being out in the county. With a total land mass of 2.8 miles, Whitsett does not have a single school bearing its town name. For all intents and purposes, Whitsett is a suburb of Greensboro. Though I have close ties to Greensboro, I feel I ultimately experience a sense of misidentification. I have to constantly misidentify where I am from for others to gain a relative understanding of where I have spent practically the entirety of my life. In many ways, Whitsett does not feel like much of a place if you are having to constantly remind others that is, in fact, real and that it is a little town outside of

I was born and lived in Dubuque Iowa. I was born on December 31st, 2003. I went to Trinity Square Daycare and I was a bit of a bad kid, and by a bit I mean a lot. My cousin and I both went to the same preschool. We went to St. Marks preschool, by Carnegie Stout Library in Dubuque.

I was born in Dubuque, Iowa in 2003, I came from a hospital called Mercy. I moved to Chicago when I was two years old, most of my family lived there but Then I had to move back to go to school in Dubuque. I started school when I was just three years old my first school was Fulton elementary I stayed there since kindergarten to second grade then I went to Houston, Texas with my mom for third and forth grade.

I was born in Modesto ,CA on August 17, 2003 in Modesto hospital . I lived in Atwater ,CA most of my life ,but then I moved to Merced this year. Places that I have visited that feel like home is Watsonville and Santa Cruz. I have been in the same school for 8 years . Also, I have had a separate year in preschool. When I was in preschool I went to a school near Winton ,CA. During my magical 8 years I stayed in Bellevue since kindergarden through 8th grade.

I come from the small town of Caribou, Maine. “Why so far north?” You might ask. Well, my father took a job as meteorologist for NOAA in Caribou following his retirement from the Air Force after 20 years of service. I moved to Maine in August of 2008, exactly 9 years ago; however, Maine is the 4th location I’ve lived in after Virginia (my birthplace), Alabama, and North Carolina.

I grew up in a small town, but it was not where I have lived my whole life. I was born on Mount Desert Island in

My dad originally came from Ohio, and moved down here with his parents. My blood grandfather died of a stroke before I was born, and my mamaw remarried. My mom always lived in North Carolina, first in Kannapolis, but moved to Carolina Beach in middle school (to my knowledge).

I was born in Lubbock, Texas at the local hospital and was immediately welcomed into the world by my loving parents and caring big sister. Most of my early childhood was spent moving from town to town in the panhandle of Texas. However, when I turned eight-years-old I traded the endless plains of the Texas panhandle for the lakes and trees of Bridgeport, Texas. This is the place where connected with the local community and grew closer with my family.

Born in Homewood, Illinois I moved to Spring Lake Michigan at the age of three. I lived in Spring Lake Michigan until I came to college here at Wheaton. I’ve only ever lived in suburbs my entire life. So perhaps

New Richland, Minnesota is the little back-country town that I grew up in. My family moved to New Richland when I was ten, and I lived there until I graduated High School. Folks from my hometown loved spending time out on the nearby lake, cheering on the High School sports teams, eating out at the local bar, and going drinking every weekend. The older I grew I realized that those activities did not amuse me in the slightest. That is why when I graduated High School I moved far away and never looked

born and raised in the San Joaquin Valley in a small town called Porterville. My

I was born in San Antonio, Texas. I moved from San Antonio to a little town called Albert Lea, Minnesota. I moved back and forth several times in just 12 years. I have also lived in different towns in both states. There is one thing different about each state though, they both have different environments. I wouldn't say my personality is relatable to one of them but both Texas and Minnesota.

twin brother, known to me as Uncle Josh. Uncle Josh helped raise me and loved me